Advertisement supported video download

ABSTRACT

System and method for facilitating advertisements within viewed content. The advertisements may be banner advertisements or other advertisement. The advertisements may be included in such a manner that if a user skips or otherwise fast forwards through the advertisements, the user if force to skip through at least a portion of the viewed content.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/206,586, filed Jul. 11, 2016, and entitled“ADVERTISEMENT SUPPORTED VIDEO DOWNLOAD”, which claims priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/733,876, filed Apr. 11, 2007, andentitled “COMMUNICATION NETWORK”, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,424,587, each ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and made parthereof.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to advertisement supported videodownloading of the type wherein advertisements are included withdownloaded video.

BACKGROUND ART

Videos generally comprise a number images embodied in a number offull-frame video frames. The video frames may be displayed over time toview the images included on the various video frames. With respect tobroadcast television, for example, advertisements may be included withinthe video, such as but not limited to supporting costs and otherexpenses associated with broadcasting the video.

The advertisements may be full-frame advertisements in that they occupyfull video frames in a similar manner as the images associated with thewatched content. When a viewer watches the video, the images are notshown while the advertisement is being shown due to the correspondingimages being full-frame images occupying the entire viewing area.

A portion of the content/image related frames may be interrupted with anumber of advertisement frames in a process generally referred to asadvertisement splicing. The splicing generally corresponds with theadvertisement related video frames being inserted between successiveimage or non-advertisement frames such that the advertisement framesmust be viewed before returning to viewing of the images frames.

One problem with this approach, which is particularly detrimental to theadvertisers paying for the corresponding advertisements, occurs whenviewers watch the video in a non-real time or non-broadcast manner, suchas but not limited to viewing from a video recorder, PC, etc., and fastforwards past, skips, or otherwise limits viewing of the advertisementframes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is pointed out with particularity in the appendedclaims. However, other features of the present invention will becomemore apparent and the present invention will be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompany drawing in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for advertisement supported video deliveryin accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a video frame in accordance with one non-limitingaspect of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method of advertisement supportedvideo download in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 for advertisement supported videodelivery in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention. The system 10 may generally correspond with downloading, orotherwise communicating, a video, or other content file, from a videoserver 12 to a viewer 14 for viewing. The viewer may be a television,computer, digital video recorder, mobile device, and/or other entityconfigured to support playback of the video.

The system 10 may further include an advertisement server 16 to provideadvertisements for inclusion within the video. The advertisement server16, video server 12, and viewer 14 may be connected to each other orotherwise in communication by way of a network 18. The network 18 maycomprise any wireline and/or wireless network sufficient to supportelectronic communications between the same. The videos andadvertisements may be communicated over the network 18 to provideadvertisement support video delivery in accordance with one non-limitingaspect of the present invention.

The present invention, as noted below, is predominately described withrespect to downloading a video file or other length of video to acomputer or mobile device for subsequent playback. The video may bedownload to any device suitable to facilitate video playback, such asbut not limited to those devices having capabilities to support fastforward and other video related playback controls. While the presentinvention is described in this manner, it is not intended to be solimited and fully contemplates its application to other environments andsupporting advertising in any type of video viewing, including but notlimited cable television on-demand and broadcast (real-time) relatedviewing.

The types of devices having capabilities to support fast forward andother related video controls provide problems with respect to requiringor otherwise forcing advertisement viewing, as the operators thereof mayelect to fast forward or otherwise skip the advertisement. Onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention is intended to limit thisproblem by requiring any fast forwarding or skipping of theadvertisement to correspond with fast forwarding or skipping acorresponding portion of the video, i.e., the content desired forviewing, on the belief that viewers will be less likely to fast forwardor otherwise skip the advertisement if the corresponding content mustalso be fast forwarded or otherwise skipped.

The video may comprise or otherwise be made up on a number of imagesincluded on a number of video frames. The corresponding image frames maybe played in succession by the viewer 14 or other device to facilitateviewing of the corresponding images/content. The video frames may beassociated with analog or digital communication methodologies andtransferred according to any number of protocols and standardsassociated with the same. The video delivered to the viewer 14 may bereceived from a video source remotely located from the video and it mayinclude full-frame images designed to provide full screen viewing forstandard (4×3), widescreen (16×9), or other viewing screens.

The advertisement server 16 may include any number and type ofadvertisements for inclusion within the video. The advertisements may befull-frame and/or limited frame video and/or non-video advertisements.Optionally, the advertisements may be banner advertisement, such as thetype commonly known to appear on websites or webpages, such as the typethat appear across a portion of a webpage. The banner advertisement mayinclude an image, video, or other animation, as well as a link to awebpage or other resource associated with an advertiser.

Banner advertisements are commonly employed on websites to facilitategeneration of advertisement revenue. When a user views the website, thebanner advertisements appear to convey a message, image, or otherfeature, and optionally a link or other means for directing the viewerto a website associated with the advertisers. Advertisements servers,such as the one shown in FIG. 1, may be employed to support selectionand delivery of such banner advertisements.

Advertisers desiring to pay for or otherwise purchase advertisements mayupload a picture and URL address to the server. The server 16 may formatthe picture (or other image) and process the URL to provide a banneradvertisement of desired size, shape, appearance, etc. The advertisermay be required to pay varying amounts for these features as well as foreach showing of the advertisement. One non-limiting aspect of thepresent invention contemplates including such banner advertisementswithin downloaded video and charging the corresponding advertisers foreach showing of the banner advertisements so as to supportadvertisement-based video download.

The video server 12 may be configured to receive a particular video fordownloading to the viewer 14. The request may include information on theviewer 14 and/or otherwise be associated with the same. This informationmay then be provided to the advertisement server 16 to facilitateselecting one or more advertisements for inclusion within the video. Theadvertisers and/or advertisement server 16 may specify any number ofconditions and/or algorithms to support selecting the advertisements.The selected advertisements may be sent to the video server 12 andincluded within the video download.

The video server 12 may be configured to embed the advertisements withinthe video such that the viewer is unable to fast forward or otherwiseskip the advertisement without fast forwarding or otherwise skipping atleast a portion of the video. This may include embedding theadvertisements within the image frames comprising the video such thatthe corresponding video frames include images and advertisements on thesame frame such that if the user skips the frame, the correspondingimage must also be skipped.

The advertisement may be included and/or otherwise embedded within thevideo frames according to any suitable methodology, which may depend onthe type of advertisement, i.e., whether the advertisement is a banneradvertisement or a video advertisement. Any suitable tracking system maybe used to track advertisement inclusion and whether the includedadvertisement were actually accessed by the viewer 14, i.e., whether theuser clicked on the advertisement.

The embedding of the advertisements may optionally include translatingthe images to occupy a smaller portion of the video frames. Full-frameimages, for example, may be sized to take up the entire viewing area ofthe screen or other device used to view the video. The presentinvention, however, contemplates reducing the image size, such asthrough a translation process, so that the corresponding image occupiesa smaller portion, something less than full-frame. This creates agap/available area for inclusion within the video frame, which thepresent invention contemplates for receipt of the advertisement.

The gap produced from translating the images may correspond with apillar box and/or letter box. The pillar box may correspond with aportion of a standard viewing area (4×3) and the letter box maycorrespond with a portion of a widescreen viewing area (16×9). The boxesmay be arranged on the top, bottom, or side of the images to providespace for the advertisements. Another methodology to create room for theadvertisement may include converting standard full-frame images towidescreen images, the widescreen images being wider and shorter thanthe standard images, thereby creating a suitable gap above and below theimage.

The size of the gap may also be suited or adjusted to the size of theselected advertisement. Optionally, rather than relying on gaps, theadvertisement may be overlaid used to block out or cover a portion ofthe image. Once the positioning, sizing, and other aspect related toadvertisement are determined, optionally by the video server 12, theadvertisement may be embedded into the corresponding video frame suchthat the video frame now includes and image portion and an advertisementportion.

FIG. 2 illustrates a video frame 24 having image 26 and advertisementportions 28-30 in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention. The illustration generally corresponds with advertisementportions 28-30 being provided relative to a top and bottom side of theimage portion 26. The advertisement portions 28-30, however, may belocated at any position relative to the image portion 26, andoptionally, depending to the translation of the image. Furthermore, ifthe multiple advertisement portions are included, differentadvertisements may be included in each portion. The advertisements maybe changed over time, and during playback of the same video.

If the viewing device includes other processing and communicationcapabilities, the advertisements may be clicked on or otherwise selectedto access more information with respect to the associated advertisement,such as by being transported to website of the advertiser if such anaddress is included within or otherwise associated with theadvertisement. Optionally, if the advertisements are banneradvertisements, i.e., internet based advertisements having images andURLs, such advertisements may still be included even if the viewer isunable to access the corresponding website, such as to facilitatedisplaying a logo of the advertiser.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart 36 of a method of advertisement supportedvideo download in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention. The method broadly relates to including advertisements withinvideo. The method is describe with respect to a file download or otherprocess wherein a user obtains a full copy of the video for playbackwhen not connected or in communication with a video server from whichthe video may be downloaded. This is done for exemplary purposes onlyand the present invention fully contemplates its application to anyprocess for providing video.

Block 38 relates to receipt of a video request. The video request may bemade from a viewer to a video server and specify a video or othercontent desired for downloading. User information, device information,and other information may be determined from the request to identify thevideo, the capabilities of the device intended to playback the video,interests/habits of the user, etc. This information may be communicatedto an advertisement server and/or used by the video server infacilitating the video download.

Block 40 relates to selecting an advertisement for inclusion with thevideo download. The selected advertisement may be determined by thevideo or advertisement server. It may be selected to correspond with theuser's viewing habits and/or capabilities of the device intended toplayback the downloaded video. Optionally, advertisers may specify howtheir advertisements may be selected and the advertisers may be billedupon the selection thereof.

Block 42 relates to optionally translating images associated with thevideo to make room or gaps of the selected advertisements. One or moreimages associated with one or more frames may be translated in thismanner. Some video frames may include different sized image translationrelative to other video frames depending on the size and shape of theadvertisement intended for the same, such as if different advertisementsare selected for showing at different times and/or within the same videoframe.

Block 44 relates to embedding the advertisement in at least a portion ofa number of video frames making up the requested video. The video framesmay be adapted to include images associated with the requested video andthe selected advertisement such that at least a portion of the videoframes include banner advertisements and images. This may be helpful inpreventing fast forwarding past the banner advertisements withoutsimilarly fast forwarding past a corresponding portion of the images

Block 46 relates to downloading the requested video, including theembedded advertisements, to the viewer. The video may be downloaded inany suitable manner. Once downloaded, the video providing entity andadvertisers may gain a mutual benefit in requiring playback of the videoto automatically include viewing of the embedded advertisements, unlessof course the advertising portion of the video is fast forwarded orotherwise skipped, which may be unlikely considering such action willfast forward past or skip a corresponding portion of the video do to theimages being on some of the same frames as the advertisements.

As described above, one non-limiting aspect of the present invention mayrelate to collecting online banner ad images and injecting/encoding theminto video content such that the banner ad images are present while thevideo content is being played back. This allows an advertising-supportedmodel for offering video content, such as but not limited for use withportable media devices, video on demand (VOD), online streaming, etc.

The online banner ads may be collected e.g. from a URL, and a script maybe constructed to govern their injection/encoding into video contentusing image composition techniques e.g. scaling and translation. Oneembodiment may select the banner ads to associate with a piece of videocontent based on some correlation/correspondence between known, deducedor derived properties of the video content and known, deduced or derivedproperties of the selected advertisements. E.g., if the video content isdiscovered to be basketball, the advertising can steer toward NBA, WNBA,basketball apparel and/or footwear, related professional sports, etc.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention relates to providingmethods for advertising support for a free video download content modelto portable devices. This technique may inhibit separation ofadvertising from main content in by compositing the ads and the contentin the same video frame. Since the online banner ads can be tracked viathe download URL, and the portable media content can be tracked viacontent file download, an ad-sponsored free content business model isfacilitated.

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention.

While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described,it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe allpossible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in thespecification are words of description rather than limitation, and it isunderstood that various changes may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by acomputing device, a request for video content, wherein the requestcomprises advertisement selection data, and wherein the video contentcomprises a plurality of video frames; determining spatial aspects ofone or more advertisements for inclusion with the video content based onthe advertisement selection data; generating, by the computing deviceand based on the spatial aspects and the plurality of video frames, asecond plurality of video frames having modified output proportions; andsending, to a user device, combined video content comprising the secondplurality of video frames and the one or more advertisements.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: sending, to a second computingdevice, the advertisement selection data.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, from a second computing device and basedon the advertisement selection data, the one or more advertisements. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the advertisement selection data includesat least one of: user device information, video content information, oradvertisement information.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein one or moreimages associated with the second plurality of video frames occupy atleast one of: a smaller viewing area than images associated with theplurality of video frames, or a portion less than an entire video frame.6. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more images associated with thesecond plurality of video frames do not occupy an entire video frame. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein one or more images associated with thesecond plurality of video frames correspond to widescreen images, andone or more images associated with the plurality of video framescorrespond to full-frame images.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein avideo frame of the second plurality of video frames comprises: an imageassociated with the video content; and an advertisement of the one ormore advertisements.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:generating the combined video content by assembling the second pluralityof video frames and the one or more advertisements in a non-overlappingmanner.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or moreadvertisements overlap a portion of the second plurality of videoframes.
 11. A system comprising: a computing device; and a user device;wherein the computing device is configured to: receive a request forvideo content, wherein the request comprises advertisement selectiondata, and wherein the video content comprises a plurality of videoframes; determine spatial aspects of one or more advertisements forinclusion with the video content based on the advertisement selectiondata; generate, based on the spatial aspects and the plurality of videoframes, a second plurality of video frames having modified outputproportions; and send, to the user device, combined video contentcomprising the second plurality of video frames and the one or moreadvertisements; and wherein the user is configured to: receive, from thecomputing device, the combined video content.
 12. The system of claim11, wherein the computing: device is further configured to: send, to asecond computing device, the advertisement selection data.
 13. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the computing device is further configuredto: receive, from a second computing device and based on theadvertisement selection data, the one or more advertisements.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the advertisement selection data includes atleast one of: user device information, video content information, oradvertisement information.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein one ormore images associated with the second plurality of video frames occupyat least one of: a smaller viewing area than images associated with theplurality of video frames, or a portion less than an entire video frame.16. The system of claim 11, wherein one or more images associated withthe second plurality of video frames do not occupy an entire videoframe.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein one or more images associatedwith the second plurality of video frames correspond to widescreenimages, and one or more images associated with the plurality of videoframes correspond to full-frame images.
 18. The system of claim 11,wherein a video frame of the second plurality of video frames comprises:an image associated with the video content; and an advertisement of theone or more advertisements.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein thecomputing device is further configured to: generate the combined videocontent by assembling the second plurality of video frames and the oneor more advertisements in a non-overlapping manner.
 20. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the one or more advertisements overlap a portion ofthe second plurality of video frames.
 21. An apparatus comprising: oneor more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executedby the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: receive a requestfor video content, wherein the request comprises advertisement selectiondata, and wherein the video content comprises a plurality of videoframes; determine spatial aspects of one or more advertisements forinclusion with the video content based on the advertisement selectiondata; generate, based on the spatial aspects and the plurality of videoframes, a second plurality of video frames having modified outputproportions; and send, to a user device, combined video contentcomprising the second plurality of video frames and the one or moreadvertisements.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the instructions,when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatusto: send, to a computing device, the advertisement selection data. 23.The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the instructions, when executed bythe one or more processors, further cause the apparatus to: receive,from a computing device and based on the advertisement selection data,the one or more advertisements.
 24. The apparatus of claim 21, whereinthe advertisement selection data includes at least one of: user deviceinformation, video content information, or advertisement information.25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein one or more images associatedwith the second plurality of video frames occupy at least one of: asmaller viewing area than images associated with the plurality of videoframes, or a portion less than an entire video frame.
 26. The apparatusof claim 21, wherein one or more images associated with the secondplurality of video frames do not occupy an entire video frame.
 27. Theapparatus of claim 21, wherein one or more images associated with thesecond plurality of video frames correspond to widescreen images, andone or more images associated with the plurality of video framescorrespond to full-frame images.
 28. The apparatus of claim 21, whereina video frame of the second plurality of video frames comprises: animage associated with the video content; and an advertisement of the oneor more advertisements.
 29. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further causethe apparatus to: generate the combined video content by assembling thesecond plurality of video frames and the one or more advertisements in anon-overlapping manner.
 30. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the oneor more advertisements overlap a portion of the second plurality ofvideo frames.
 31. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the instructions,when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the apparatusto generate the second plurality of video frames by causing: processingthe plurality of video frames to reduce a spatial dimension of one ormore of the plurality of video frames.